


Leaving Home

by Fenchurch87



Series: The Eye of the Storm [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Childhood, Childhood Trauma, Family Feels, Gen, Sibling Love, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 07:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15576744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenchurch87/pseuds/Fenchurch87
Summary: An incident with a rug changes eight year old Evelyn (Evie) Trevelyan's life forever. Originally written in response to a writing prompt on /r/dragonage.





	Leaving Home

Eight year old Evelyn Trevelyan sat in the uncomfortable chair in her father's study, desperately trying not to shake. Her father didn't seem angry, but she was afraid. More afraid than she had ever been in her life.

Her father sat at his desk, cupping his chin in his hands and eyeing her thoughtfully. Every now and then, his gaze would stray to the charred remains of an expensive Orlesian rug that lay on the floor nearby.

“I'm sorry, Father.” She couldn't hold back the words any longer. “I didn't mean to do it. I can fix it, I swear. I–I'll learn to sew so I can repair it. Or I'll save up all my allowance to buy a new one. Please, Father–”

“It's not about the rug, Evie.” Her father's tone was firm, but not unkind. “It's about what you did to it.” He gestured at the burn marks that covered the delicate fabric. “You know what this means, don't you?”

She lowered her eyes and gazed down at her hands as they twisted in her lap. “It means I'm a mage,” she whispered, her cheeks burning with shame.

Her father sighed. “Yes. And that means you can't stay here. The Templars are coming tomorrow to take you to the Circle.”

“Father, no!” She had known that this would happen, but hearing the words spoken aloud still sent a stab of pain through her heart. “I'll never use magic again, I promise. I'll stay hidden in the attic if you want me to. You won't ever have to see me again. Just– please don't send me away!”

“Look at me, Evie.” She made herself look up into her father's piercing green eyes. The Trevelyan eyes. Her brothers and sisters had them too, but she did not. Another thing that made her the odd one out.

“We can't keep you here.” Her father sounded tired, she realised. Tired, and sad. “If the Chantry found out we were hiding a mage– It would be dangerous for the whole family. And you need to learn to use magic safely, without hurting yourself or anyone else. Only the Circle can teach you that.” Her father's face closed off as he finished speaking, and she knew that was the end of it.

“Mother?” She tried appealing to the silent figure sitting in the corner of the room. But her mother simply shook her head as the tears ran down her cheeks.

“Go to your room now, Evie,” her father said quietly. “I must speak to your brothers and sisters.”

Her mother walked with her to the door. “Be brave,” she whispered, before retreating to her chair and burying her face in her hands.

*****

“It's not fair, Evie!” Lianna came crashing into the bedroom, slamming the door against the wall in her anger. “They should send Gawyn away instead! Or horrid Verena! Not you! It's not fair!”

She pulled her younger sister on to her lap and hugged her close. “Gawyn and Verena don't have magic, little one. That's why they can stay here and I have to leave.”

Lianna stuck out her lower lip. “But I don't want you to leave!” Suddenly, her face brightened, and a hopeful note entered her voice. “I know! You can teach me how to do magic. Then I can go with you!”

“I don't think it works like that.”

Lianna flinched at the finality in her words, and then buried her face in her shoulder and began to cry. She stroked her sister's soft brown hair and wondered how her other siblings had reacted to the news. Verena and Gawyn would be pleased, no doubt. They had made it very clear that they didn't want her around, that she was an embarrassment, that she wasn't beautiful enough to be their sister. _But what about Ricky?_

As if on cue, her bedroom door opened again, and the third youngest Trevelyan child walked in, holding something behind his back. Tall, blonde and lanky, Rickard was an almost perfect miniature of their father, although the effect was somewhat spoilt by the deep purple bruise that surrounded his left eye.

“What happened?” she asked.

Her brother shrugged. “It's nothing. Gawyn punched me.”

She winced. “Why?”

Rickard didn't answer immediately. Instead, he took his hand out from behind his back and gave her a slightly battered teddy bear. “Here. I want you to have him.”

“I can't take Ser Tedsworth!” she protested. “He's yours.”

“I want you to have him,” he repeated, his face closing off in exactly the same way that their father's had earlier. “I think you might need him more than I do. And I wanted to give you something. To say sorry.”

“What for, Ricky?”

“For letting Verena and Gawyn hurt you. For sitting there and not doing anything when they shouted at you and called you names. If I'd said something sooner, maybe they wouldn't have gone after you today, and then maybe you wouldn't have set the rug on fire trying to get away from them.”

She pulled her brother down on to the carpet and wrapped her arms around him and Lianna both. “It's not your fault, Ricky. You couldn't have stopped them. If you'd said anything, they would have hurt you too.” She peered at the bruise again. “You said something today, didn't you? That's why Gawyn punched you.”

Rickard nodded, and a hint of pride appeared on his face. “I told them they were cowards for running away from you just because you were a mage. And that they were only horrible to you because it made them feel better about themselves. And that they were bad, miserable people.”

“Oh dear.” She giggled in spite of herself. “I wish I'd seen their faces.”

Rickard laughed too. “I don't think anybody's ever spoken to them like that before. They didn't know what to do! I thought Verena was going to explode, she was so angry!” Then he sighed and looked at her sadly. “I'll miss you, Evie.”

“I'll miss you too. You and Lianna.” She glanced down at her little sister, who was still sobbing. “Will you look after her when I'm gone? Mother and Father are too busy, and Verena and Gawyn don't care about her. Without you, she'll have nobody.”

“I'll look after her. I promise.” Rickard draped a protective arm around Lianna's shoulders.

“Thank you, Ricky.”

She had been trying not to cry for most of the day, but suddenly she was overwhelmed by grief and fear of what was to come, and the tears began to fall. She hugged her brother and sister tightly, wondering if she would ever see them again.

 


End file.
